1. Field of the Invention
The invention is concerned with a piston-cylinder unit, having a closed cylinder in which a piston is guided in an axially displaceable manner sealed off from the cylinder via an annular seal radially surrounding it, and divides the cylinder interior into a working space near the piston rod and a working space away from the piston rod, the two working spaces being filled with a fluid, in particular with a hydraulic fluid. A one-sided piston rod extends through the working space near the piston rod and is guided in a sealed manner to the outside through an end closing wall of the cylinder. A first valve can be opened under pressure, in particular under high pressure, to connect the working space away from the piston rod to the working space near the piston rod. A second valve can be opened under high pressure to connect the working space near the piston rod to the working space away from the piston rod. A volume-equalizing chamber receives an amount of hydraulic fluid displaced from the working space away from the piston rod, which is greater than the amount displaced from the working space near the piston rod.
2. Description of the Related Art
A known piston-cylinder unit of this type has a volume-equalizing chamber which is arranged in an end region of the cylinder and is separated from the working space away from the piston rod by a partition. This design results in a large overall length and a high outlay on components for the piston-cylinder unit.
It is therefore the object of the invention to provide a piston-cylinder unit of the type mentioned at the beginning which makes a compact construction with fewer components possible.